Gift Card Scams in the UK: The Six Scripts, and What To Do

We buy gift cards for a living, which means we see the aftermath of gift card fraud more often than most. People contact us having already lost the money, asking whether anything can be done — and usually, by then, it cannot.

So this article is not really about selling cards. It is about the one rule that would have stopped nearly every case we have seen, and about what to do in the hours after it has happened, when acting quickly still counts for something.

Why criminals want gift cards specifically

A gift card code is the closest thing to untraceable cash that a stranger can extract from you over the telephone.

• It is irreversible. Once a code is redeemed, there is no chargeback, no dispute, no recall. Not through your bank, not through the retailer.
• It is anonymous. The person who redeems it does not need a name, a bank account, or an address.
• It can be read aloud. That is the crucial one. A criminal on the phone in another country can get money out of your hand without ever touching your bank.
• It is fast. Codes are resold and drained within minutes.

Bank transfer fraud can sometimes be reversed. Card fraud can often be charged back. Gift card fraud, essentially, cannot. That is why it remains the fraudster's favourite instrument, and why your bank's fraud team will tell you the same thing we are about to.

The one rule

Everything below is a variation on a single theme, so it is worth stating the rule before the examples, because the rule is what actually protects you:

No legitimate organisation on Earth accepts payment in gift cards.

Not HMRC. Not the police. Not the DVLA. Not your bank. Not a court. Not the NHS. Not your energy supplier. Not your internet provider. Not Amazon. Not Apple. Not Microsoft. Nobody.

If a conversation with anybody, on any pretext, ends with you being told to go and buy gift cards, that conversation is a crime in progress. There are no exceptions. You do not need to work out whether the caller sounds convincing, whether the number looks right, or whether the letter has the correct logo. The moment gift cards are mentioned, you already have your answer.

The six scripts

1. The tax scam

A call, a voicemail, or an automated message: you owe HMRC money, there is a warrant out for your arrest, and a police car is on its way unless you settle immediately. The caller stays on the line while you go to a shop and buy cards.

HMRC will never call you to demand immediate payment, will never threaten arrest over the phone, and does not accept gift cards. Hang up. If you are worried, contact HMRC yourself using the number on gov.uk — never a number the caller gave you.

2. The bank fraud team

Someone claiming to be your bank says your account has been compromised and your money must be moved "somewhere safe". Sometimes they ask for a transfer to a "safe account"; increasingly they ask for gift cards, because transfers can be recalled and gift cards cannot.

Your bank will never ask you to move money to a safe account, and will certainly never ask for gift cards. Hang up and call 159 — a service that connects you securely to your own bank's fraud team, and cannot be intercepted by a caller staying on the line.

3. Tech support

A pop-up says your computer is infected, or a caller from "Microsoft" or "Apple support" has detected a virus. They talk you through installing remote access software, show you some alarming-looking screens, and then ask for payment — in gift cards — to fix it.

Apple and Microsoft do not cold-call people about viruses. Nobody legitimate charges for support in iTunes cards.

4. The romance scam

The slowest and the cruellest. Someone you have been speaking to for weeks or months — never able to meet, always some reason — eventually has a crisis. A hospital bill, a customs charge, a stuck inheritance. Could you send gift cards? Just this once.

This one is hardest to hear, because the money is not really the point of the harm. The rule still holds: a person who cannot meet you and needs gift cards is not a person.

5. The grandchild / WhatsApp text

"Hi Mum, this is my new number, I've dropped my phone." A conversation follows, then an urgent problem, then a request for help — sometimes a transfer, sometimes gift cards.

Ring the person on the number you already have for them. Not the new one. It takes thirty seconds and it ends the scam.

6. The job offer — and this one makes you the criminal

This is the one that catches people who are simply trying to earn some money, and it deserves the most space, because the consequences fall on the victim.

The offer arrives by Telegram, WhatsApp, or a job site. It sounds like easy remote work: you will receive gift cards, or be given money to buy them, and your job is to sell them and forward the proceeds — keeping a small commission. It may be dressed up as "payment processing", "market research" or an "e-commerce assistant" role.

The cards are stolen. You are being used as a money mule — the human layer that turns stolen money into clean money, and the one whose name is attached to it.

Being a money mule is a criminal offence in the UK under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. It carries a prison sentence of up to fourteen years. Crucially:

It remains an offence even if you did not know the money was stolen.

"I thought it was a real job" is not a defence. Neither is "I was only helping a friend." People are prosecuted for this, and beyond the criminal record, banks close mule accounts and share the marker between them — which can leave you unable to open a bank account for years.

If any part of your reason for selling a gift card involves passing the money on to someone you met online, stop now. Not because of us. Because of you.

What to do if you have already given away a code

Move quickly. The window is short, but it is not always closed — if the card has not yet been drained, it can occasionally be frozen.

1. Ring the card issuer immediately. Apple: 0800 048 0408. Amazon: through their customer service pages. Steam: through Steam Support. Tell them the card was obtained by fraud and ask them to freeze it.
2. Keep everything. The cards, the receipts, the packaging, the messages, the caller's number. It is all evidence.
3. Report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or to Police Scotland on 101 if you are in Scotland. If a crime is in progress or you are in danger, call 999.
4. Tell your bank if you paid for the cards by card or transfer — call 159.
5. Do not pay again. The follow-up is a standard part of the script: another call, sometimes from a "recovery agent" or a "fraud investigator" who can get your money back for a fee. It is the same criminals, or the people they sold your details to. Paying a second time is how a bad day becomes a catastrophe.

And if you have not been scammed

Then you are probably here for the ordinary reason: you have a card you do not want, and you would like the money instead.

That is entirely legitimate, and it is what we do. Sell your own cards, on your own account, and take the money into your own PayPal or wallet. Verification takes up to 24 hours precisely because a person checks each card — which is a mild inconvenience for you and a serious obstacle for anyone trying to launder stolen credit through us. That is the trade, and we think it is the right one.

Our Anti-Fraud Policy sets out how we check cards, what happens if we suspect fraud, and how to appeal if we get it wrong.

Check what your card is worth.